


The L Word

by LuluKM44



Category: Hiveswap
Genre: Child Abandonment, Closeted Character, F/F, Gender Dysphoria, Multi, Non-Explicit Sex, Social Anxiety, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-21
Updated: 2019-12-10
Packaged: 2021-02-16 12:50:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21508225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuluKM44/pseuds/LuluKM44
Summary: It's tough being a kid. It's tougher being a kid with abandonment issues. It's even tougher being a questioning queer kid with abandonment issues.Being a questioning queer kid with abandonment issues stranded on an alien planet with no way of contacting your loved ones is...probably a couple of steps tougher, at least.A story about a questioning queer kid with abandonment issues stranded on an alien planet with no way of contacting her loved ones doing things a questioning queer kid with abandonment issues stranded on an alien planet with no way of contacting her loved ones might do as she explores her new habitat.Content warning for non-explicit/implied sexual content between Joey and Elwurd in later chapters.
Relationships: Joey Claire/?????? Elwurd
Comments: 2
Kudos: 36





	1. The L Word

Joey Claire was never much of the 'social' type; even amongst her own family, as her mother had died long ago, her father had neglected her in favor of 'adventure', and she had spent much of her time hanging out with her younger brother and oft-drunk babysitter. The kids at school would often mock her for her supposedly 'fake' interest in video games, and the few who took the time to tolerate her were mostly in separate classes altogether, so she rarely if ever actually got to see them.

No, Joey Claire was most definitely the last person you would expect to see waltzing about a dance club.

And yet.

Xefros peered out through the glass door of the dance club they had decided to hide out in, scrambling away as he saw the shadows of Drones passing overhead. They had decided to stop for a moment to gather their bearings, but the Drones had found them sooner than he’d expected, and although he and Joey had managed to get away, the fates of Zoosmell and Cornibuster were currently unknown.

"they're still out there."

He muttered, sighing and sliding down the wall into a sitting position.

"the pessimist in me is saying that they're just playing with us at this point and any second now they'll blow this place to smithereens."

Joey simply nodded, the fake horned headband Xefros had loaned her wobbling slightly as she glanced around the club nervously, the buttons on the hood of the bronze-symboled jacket that Xefros had loaned her nearly slipping loose; why he had one on hand was anyone’s guess. Trolls of all shapes and sizes and, if their symbols were to be believed, blood colors occupied the dance floor of the club. A troll wearing a mask and a black sweater-dress with a brownish-orange insignia on it stood atop the stage, rapping heartily into the microphone. It seemed to have been improvised to go with a random beat that blasted from the speakers overhead, but Joey couldn't be certain; to be completely honest, she wasn't even sure what half of the lyrics being sung actually meant. From what she could discern, the lyrics seemed to be critical of the blood-based hierarchy of troll society, using words such as bone-bulge, nook, protein chute, and so on, which Joey couldn't believe were terms that were anything other than extremely vulgar in nature.

The fact that Xefros' cheeks had turned a dark red and he was unable to make eye contact with anyone only served to reinforce her suspicions.

"we've gotta get outta here."

Xefros mumbled, beginning to pace back and forth.

"we're sitting web-footed honkbeasts if we stay here."

"we'll be sitting...whatever you said, if we go out there, too."

Joey sighed, though a part of her was just as eager to leave such a cramped space.

"maybe there's a back door we can use?"

"it'll be guarded. nobody leaves through the back without performing."

Joey couldn't help but chuckle.

"nobody leaves without singing the blues, huh?"

At Xefros' confused expression, she added,

"it's a quote from an earth movie, and… yeah, i'll be quiet now."

Xefros crossed his arms, looking up at the bronze-blooded troll girl on the stage.

"just the fact that a bronze-blood is on-stage is surprising. they'd never let a burgundy perform."

Joey felt her lips tighten into a line; she could go up there and put on a show, but she was unsure whether or not trolls would 'get' a tap dance or ballet routine; even if they would, there was no way she could just go on stage in front of so many people.

She looked around the club again, her eyes stopping on a cerulean-blooded troll sporting an undercut and large, pronounced fangs, sitting at what looked to be a bar of some kind. The troll seemed to have already been looking at her, and once their eyes had met, she pointed a finger gun at her, winking.

Joey gulped, her heart skipping a beat.

The troll stood up from the bar, striding towards them purposefully, confidently. Joey wanted to tell Xefros that it was time to go, but she couldn't look away from the azure girl that could very well mean to kill the both of them.

"hey."

Joey's mouth suddenly felt dry as the troll finally reached them.

"you guys aLright?"

"y-yeah, we're fine!"

"cooL, cooL."

The troll girl turned to Joey.

"say, you wanna dance?"

Joey's mouth opened and closed like a fish, completely caught off-guard.

"u-uh, um..."

The troll seemed to sense her apprehension, and quickly added,

"if dancing's not your thing, maybe we couLd get a drink? my treat."

"s-sure?"

Joey stammered, still in shock. Was...was this troll hitting on her? She felt her gut twist into a knot for a moment, dysphoria hitting her like a sack of bricks, before remembering that Xefros himself had admitted to liking a boy, so maybe trolls were just innately attracted to the same gender? Joey could mull over the implications and questions regarding where troll babies come from and how terrifying the troll stork probably was at a later date; at present, the troll girl had taken her hand, leading her back towards the bar. Joey glanced back at Xefros, who simply nodded at her and ducked into the crowd on the dance floor.

In hindsight, this wasn't that bad an idea; if the Drones decided to search the place and they were split up, the chances of them being found were much smaller, as the Drones would be focused on locating pairs.

As Joey and the troll girl arrived at the bar, the latter leaned on her elbow against the counter.

"so, what brings you and your buddy here? you don't much Look Like city-sLickers."

"we're, um...just on our way to the next subu--subgrub over."

Her shoulders felt unbearably tense, her anxiety working overtime as she just barely saved herself with the right terminology.

"oh! um, my name is joey, by the way."

"joey, huh?"

Joey was surprised to hear actual intrigue in her tone.

"nice name, even if it's a bit weird. caLL me ELwurd."

_"l-word?"_

Joey thought to herself, pulling the hood of the jacket Xefros had loaned her forward a bit to hide her flushed cheeks.

_"that's gotta be an alias or something. well, at least she probably doesn't think i'm a boy, so that's good i guess?"_

Elwurd turned to the bartender, a troll with heart-shaped horns and a teal symbol on their shirt, asking for ‘two of the usuaL’, whatever that meant. Joey watched in morbid fascination as the bartender poured two vials, one olive green, the other a bright teal color, into a cocktail mixer, shaking them together.

The bartroll poured the slightly-viscous concoction into a pair of glasses, adding to them both a wedge of some strange alien fruit that looked like a lime covered in chicken pox. Elwurd picked up her glass, raising it in a relaxed cheer, before tipping it back. Joey lifted her own glass, staring at the foamy green mix in apprehension; it smelled...off, somehow.

Elwurd looked at her expectantly, and Joey sucked in a breath before taking a gulp of the beverage, screwing her eyes shut to prepare herself for the taste. The wash hit her tongue, a strange, tangy, almost sour taste. She shuddered as she gulped it down, the taste staying behind on her tongue for a moment. Elwurd chuckled, taking another sip.

“you get used to the taste, guessing you’ve never had teaLive twist before?”

“among other flavors.”

Elwurd downed the rest of her glass, her tongue flicking out and licking a few drops of residual teal liquid off of her fangs.

“where are you guys from?”

“outglut.”

Elwurd suddenly coughed, her eyes going wide.

“outgLut? yikes, you guys are Lucky. word on the street is it was burned to the ground. nothing Left.”

“we know. we were there when the bombs fell. xefros was almost crushed to death under the rubble of his hou--hive.”

“daaaaaamn, you guys reaLLy are Lucky.”

Elwurd chuckled.

“what about your Lusii?”

Joey looked down at her glass, an odd sadness lingering in her gaze. She’d known Cornibuster for barely more than a day, and yet...

“we don’t know. they escaped outglut with us, but we got separated at the city’s outskirts.”

“ugh...damn.”

Elwurd muttered, placing her glass back down onto the counter.

“dunno what answer i was expecting, sorry to bring the mood down.”

“no, you’re fine.”

Joey stared at the frothy liquid in her glass.

“i’m sure they’re both fine.”

She truly wished she could believe her own optimism. She’d need to ask Xefros later about whether or not Drones usually went after Lusii as well as the trolls themselves. She chuckled, though it was far from mirthful. It was as sour as the drink in her hand.

“it’s funny, i care more about a guardian i met just the other day than my own--”

She stopped herself mid-sentence, her lips suddenly shutting tight.

Elwurd stared at Joey, her eyes wide as though she’d just been punched in the gut.

“...yikes.”

She turned around so that she was properly sitting at the bar, motioning for the bartroll to pour her another drink.

“that’s...heavy.”

Joey clenched her jaw.

“he’s never even around. it’s like, why even bother having kids if you’re just gonna ignore them?”

Elwurd cocked an eyebrow at her wording, but said nothing. Joey scoffed in disgust, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

“bluh, jeez, i’m sorry, you’re a complete stranger, i shouldn’t be dropping all this emotional baggage on you.”

“nah, it’s cooL.”

Elwurd shrugged, taking a gulp of her second drink.

“sometimes that’s aLL a troLL needs, someone to open up to and get aLL reaL with, and--whaaaaaat the fuck is that.”

Joey looked over at Elwurd, whose mouth hung open and her eyes glued to Joey’s abdomen. Joey followed her gaze, her heart sinking as she spotted the familiar feathery head poking curiously out of her jacket pocket.

“n-nothing!”

Joey pushed herself away from the bar, the stool clattering to the floor.

“i-i gotta go!”

And go she did, sprinting into the group of trolls on the dance floor and vanishing from Elwurd’s sight as the troll girl looked on in confusion.

Joey weaved between trolls about as gracefully as a rhinoceros--if she wasn’t so terrified of being caught, she might have been ashamed to call herself a ballet dancer--earning several glares of disapproval and annoyance from those she bumped into. Her chest ached. Her hands shook. Sweat covered her brow. Her breath came out in labored puffs.

Suddenly, she lost her footing, tripping over herself and falling to the floor. Her body vibrated in tandem with the floor as the trolls around her stomped and kicked in their dancing. Darkness began to encroach around the edges of her vision. Everything became a blur.

A hand around her arm, a tugging sensation, the rumbling of the dance floor becoming softer and quieter. Her senses slowly began to return to her, until finally the ground beneath her feet ceased its wobbling, and the world around her stopped spinning.

She wiped at her face, confused as wet spots appeared on her sleeve; when had she been crying?

“joey? are you alright?”

Xefros was leading her away from the crowd, around the edge of the room towards a set of curtains leading backstage.

“y-yeah.”

Joey sniffled, taking a shaky breath in an attempt to calm herself.

“i...i’m okay.”

“come on, this way.”

Still gripping her sleeve, he led her beyond the curtains.

“it looX like the guards are on break or something. if we’re quick we can get out before anyone notices.”

Indeed, the back door was left unguarded, not a soul in sight. Joey took a quick look around in case there happened to be any eyes a-prying into their private probably-not-very-legal business.

“alright. let’s blow this pop stand, the sooner the better.”

Making sure Byers was tucked securely into her pocket, Joey and Xefros hurried towards the door, ramming it with their shoulders and stumbling out into an alleyway.

“come on, corni and zoosmell can’t be far, we can--”

Joey froze, a knot forming in her throat as she and Xefros came upon a pair of trolls in matching uniforms that bore the logo of the club, one olive and one teal, run up against the side of the club, very clearly in the midst of lascivious activities. The trolls stared at them in return, just as shocked.

Joey opened her mouth, but all that came out was,

“uh.”

The two trolls quickly regathered their composure and clothing, the olive one pulling out a nightstick and the teal one drawing a broken bottle of some kind. As Teal stabbed down with their bottle, Joey nimbly pirouetted around them. Xefros raised a hand, scrunching up his face as a soft red aura enveloped Teal’s hand and bottle, freezing them in place. Olive lunged for Xefros, but a rapid tapping sound caught their attention. Olive spun around to locate the source of the noise, only to receive an eyeful of flashlight. The troll stumbled as they rubbed their eyes, bumping into Teal.

Xefros twisted his hand slightly, and Joey recoiled and winced as Teal stabbed the bottle into Olive's arm. Olive swung wildly, still effectively blinded, their nightstick striking Teal on the temple and knocking them out cold, their body hanging limply as the red aura kept their hand and strife weapon aloft.

Joey pirouetted out of the way as they swung again, their eyes open a crack and their pupils dilating as their vision began to return. Xefros twisted his hand once more, aiming the sharp edge of the bottle towards Olive. As Olive lunged for Joey again, she once more blinded them, side-stepping their attack and causing them to land neck-first on top of the bottle, the glass piercing their throat.

Olive gurgled as dark green began to pour from the wound, their hands clasping around Teal's wrist in shock. Xefros released the hand and with it the bottle, allowing Teal and Olive to both fall to the floor.

_CONGRATULATIONS! You’ve ascended to Rung 5! Attained rank of UNMEDITATED MANSLAUGHTERER! MAX HP increased by 12! TRAUMA increased by 50!_

Joey and Xefros stared in silence.

"we just killed two people. oh crap we actually just killed two people."

"w-we don’t know that! maybe they’re just unconXious.”

Xefros stepped towards the trolls, cautiously tapping one with his foot.

“...okay yeah no they’re definitely dead.”

“oh crap oh shit oh crap i don’t wanna go to space troll jail oh crap oh shit”

“what? no no we’re not gonna go to jail.”

Xefros’ voice trembled despite his attempts to reassure her.

“just culling someone isn’t enough to get sent to jail, it’s aXually pretty common. best case scenario we’ll get senXced to culling...b-but there’s a whole bunch of other torturous punishments we could be facing on account of them both being higher on the hemospectrum than us and oh my god i wish we were facing jail time we’re so fucked”

Joey began to pace back and forth, ignoring Byers as he jumped out of her pocket, going over and pecking curiously at the corpses.

“dude don’t tell me that you’re just gonna make things worse oh my god what are they gonna do to us”

“they might put a bounty on us and have a legislacerator hunt us down”

Xefros joined in her pacing, biting his claws.

“o-or they’ll chain us up and throw us to the subjugglators and have us beaX to within an inch of our lives every day until we keel over”

A groan tore itself from Joey’s throat.

“quick help me move them”

“where are we gonna put them the second someone comes out through the door they’ll see them”

“over here!”

Joey and Xefros quickly picked up the olive troll by the arms and legs, carrying the body over to an open dumpster.

“ready? on three. one, two--!”

The two hoisted the body up over the lip of the dumpster, but only the top half flopped in, leaving the troll’s legs dangling on the outside.

“shit shit push them up push them up”

The corpse hit the bottom of the dumpster with a loud _CLANG!_ Joey could have sworn she also heard a sharp snapping sound, and Xefros seemed to suddenly lurch, as though trying not to vomit.

“quick let’s get the other one before someone comes--”

Joey stopped mid-sentence. Elwurd stood in the doorway, staring at the both of them in shock. They stared back at her, at a loss for words to explain what had just transpired. Byers, ever the brainless, hopped over to Elwurd, poking her boot with his beak.

Without warning, the troll girl shoved Xefros against the side of the dumpster, before turning on Joey and slamming her against the opposite wall. Joey began to sputter an erratic apology, but Elwurd simply shushed her.

“pLay it cooL.”

She whispered, glancing towards the end of the alley that led into the street. Joey barely saw the shadow of a Drone pass by, before Elwurd threw her to the ground, giving her a couple of half-hearted kicks that still managed to knock the wind from Joey’s lungs.

“the next time you three decide to give me troubLe, you’LL get more than just an ass-kicking, you hear?”

As if to emphasize her point, she pulled out what looked to be some kind of switchblade, pointing it straight at Joey’s face where she lay on the ground. The Drone flew on by, and once she was sure it was clear to do so, Elwurd took Joey by the hand, pulling her up to her feet. Joey attempted to keep her hood on; one of the horns had fallen off of the headband, which now rested slightly askew on her head.

“erm...thanks, i think?"

The troll girl gave a half-lidded grin, shooting her a finger gun again.

“no sweat.”

She turned to Xefros, who was busy trying to steady himself against the dumpster.

“you aLright there, red?”

He nodded, wiping his forehead. He glanced down at the teal troll who still lay on the ground.

“thanX, you really saved our oinkbeast fleshstrips.”

Elwurd shrugged, and Joey felt a sharp flutter in her chest as the troll girl’s lips tweaked up around her fangs. She turned back towards Joey, looking her up and down and running a hand through her undercut.

“feLt Like doing a good deed today, might as weLL heLp a coupLe of totaL strangers. not to mention one that’s not onLy an aLien, but a cute aLien to boot.”

Joey adjusted her hood again, trying to hide the red flush that had crept into her cheeks.

“so, i’d be totes down to go over aLL the whos, hows, whys, whats, and whens, but it’d probabLy be better to get off the streets first.”


	2. Chapter 2

“and here we are, weLcome to La coLmena de eLwurd.”

As the three entered Elwurd’s abode, Joey couldn’t help but glance around. The first thing that caught her eye was a poster on the wall of two troll women, wrapped in a rather...intimate-looking embrace. She quickly averted her eyes, only to be met with a second, slightly more tame poster. Elwurd kicked off her boots and flopped backwards onto what Joey could only guess was the troll equivalent of a couch.

“you guys can crash here to sLeep, at Least untiL we find your Lusii. kick off your shoes and heLp yourseLves to whatever’s in the hunger trunk.”

Joey guessed again that ‘hunger trunk’ meant ‘refrigerator’ or something similar.

She pulled off her shoes and placed them next to the door, glancing back outside as the first beams of sunlight began to creep up over the horizon. It hit her just now that, in the amount of time she had been here, it had remained dark. She’d assumed that trolls just either didn’t need sleep, were capable of staying up super late, or just got up super early. The possibility that they were nocturnal had somehow never occurred to her.

Seeing Xefros and Elwurd yawning now, however, it was clear as the upcoming day. She herself couldn’t deny feeling tired, though she wasn’t quite sure if it was due to a lack of sleep or just a result of finally being able to relax after the events of the past 12 or so hours.

“so uh, i don’t exactLy have a spare recuperacoon. you guys wanna draw straws?”

“no, i’m okay. i’m used to sleeping without the slime.”

Joey couldn’t help but stare at the two, as confused as ever and feeling just the tiniest bit squicked out.

“and i have no idea what a recuperacoon is or why slime is involved, and to be honest i almost don’t want to know.”

It was Elwurd and Xefros’ turns to stare.

“right. aLien.”

Elwurd yawned again, gesturing for Xefros to take the couch, and he did so without hesitation. She motioned for Joey to follow her through a curtain of iridescent beads into what was obviously a bedroom; there was another, slightly smaller couch, a bookcase, a closet, more posters, and some big, weird, pod-looking thing, filled to the brim with a strange green slime that almost reminded her of Nickelodeon Gak.

“so, this is a recuperacoon. it’s what troLLs use when it’s time to sLeep. i’m assuming you know what sLeep is.”

“yeah, i know what sleep is. the slime part is new, though.”

Elwurd chuckled.

“either your species is super badass, or you’ve got some kind of substitute for it. how eLse do you sLeep through the nightmares?”

Yet again, Joey could only stare, unsure of how to answer such a strange and, quite frankly, unsettling question. Thankfully, Elwurd continued on.

“honestLy, i’m surprised red is able to sleep without it. if i didn’t know any better i’d assume you were both aLiens.”

Elwurd crossed the room over to the closet, rifling through the jackets and shirts hung up inside as though looking for something. She seemed to pause as she briefly picked something up, and Joey just barely caught sight of her up-to-now cool demeanor fade into a wistful sort of remorse, before she dropped whatever she had picked up and instead reached for a large black-and-blue shirt.

“i’m guessing you didn’t pack any pajamas when you came here. you can borrow some of mine for now.”

“thanks.”

Joey held up the shirt to examine it. It looked similar to the shirt that Elwurd was currently wearing under her jacket, symbol and all. The only difference was that it was several sizes too large, even for Elwurd, who already stood an inch or two taller than her. Clearly it was a shirt specifically tailored for sleeping in. Unless trolls just didn’t care about the size of the clothes they wore out in public.

To avoid making yet another inbound cultural faux pas, Joey simply decided to not look this proverbial gift horse in the mouth.

Elwurd turned back towards the closet, removing her jacket and hanging it up. She seemed to consider picking back up the garment she’d considered giving to Joey mere moments ago, but resolved instead on a set of blue fleece plaid shirt and pants. Joey pulled off her own jacket and hung it up as well. She glanced around for any kind of cover behind which she could change, and finding none, she turned to ask Elwurd.

The troll in question had begun removing her shirt, revealing a set of large, blue scars lining the sides of her torso. Joey quickly turned away, assuming she’d just seen something she shouldn’t have. She quickly pulled off her own shirt, replacing it with the larger one that Elwurd had loaned her.

“i don’t reaLLy have any other pLace for you to sLeep, so feeL free to just get comfy on top of the recuperacoon.”

As if to demonstrate its comfort, Elwurd prodded the outside of the slimy cocoon. It seemed to be firm enough not to collapse in on itself, but soft enough to have at least some amount of give to it, almost like a mattress.

Elwurd smirked, running a hand through her undercut and giving her a sort of coy, half-lidded look.

“or if you want, we couLd share the inside, up to you.”

Yeah, there was no way Joey would be able hide the bright red flush that had taken up residence in her face now. Her cheeks and nose and ears all burned in a mix of embarrassment, excitement, nervousness, and, at the familiar tingling feeling in the bottom of her gut, shame.

"no no i'm fine do you have a bathroom i could use please"

"uh"

"a place where i can relieve myself jesus!!"

"oh, yeah, the Load gaper and abLution trap. down the haLL and to your Left."

"thank you sorry gotta go"

Joey hurried into the hallway, her thoughts a mix of confusion and disgust at the terms--'load gaper' in particular just sounded wrong and vulgar in her head--and relief that the shirt Elwurd had loaned her was as large and baggy as it was.

She slammed the door shut behind her, taking two big strides to the sink-looking device against the far wall, and turning the faucet, praising the gods to find that it indeed ran water. She quickly splashed herself in the face, leaning over the basin so as not to get the floor wet. She took slow, steady breaths, trying to fight back the butterflies in her gut and the tingling in her unmentionables.

This feeling wasn’t one she was particularly alien to; after a certain age, her observation of the cerulean treasures that her absent father would bring home on the rare occasion that he was in fact not absent had changed from mere observation and childish curiosity to a strangely more carnal observation and curiosity. She could recall more than one occasion in which certain thoughts had crossed her mind; often regarding the prospect of dancing alongside the women who had modeled for the paintings and lamps which made up her pa’s said treasures, and, shamefully—about as shameful as the heat in her cheeks and turgidness in her previously-mentioned unmentionables—thoughts which occasionally regarded the prospect of placing miscellaneous objects amongst the cleavage and unmentionables of the lamp women in question and she really ought to have stopped thinking about unmentionables by now and she cursed her mind for its tendency to run away from her.

Once more, she took in a series of steady breaths, trying to gather her thoughts and push out any and all which were not directly related to her current predicament. Her current predicament which, it seemed, involved her own infatuation with a cerulean beauty; but she wasn’t thinking about such things goddamn it just go down will you you stupid thing.

Right. Gathering thoughts. Situations completely unrelated. Elwurd, though technically affiliated with the color blue and no doubt quite a looker, was not only a complete stranger, but a complete stranger who was also of a species completely alien to Joey’s own. Also a girl. Definitely another factor which determined whether or not she would find her attractive. Certainly. Her biological situation, which she already had trouble dealing with, was enough of an enigma for her to sort out, any other conundrums regarding her identity would just be the anxiety topping on the socially awkward cake.

Joey pondered, what would the Bounty Hunter do in a situation such as this?

Probably blast the nearest alien to smithereens. So. Yeah. Out of the question right away.

Could it be that she just had an unnatural fixation on the color blue? Maybe? Yes, that could very well be it, disregarding her admiration of Clarissa and Dot Matrix and Alex Mack and the Bounty Hunter and her odd draw towards the damsels found within the pages of her pa’s more salacious reading materials and oh. Oh.

She shook her head. No, that couldn’t be it. What better indicator of sexuality could there be than incorporating into a password the name of a celebrity crush whose character traits outside of fictional portrayals were a mystery to oneself?

That...didn’t even sound convincing in her head. She was very glad she hadn’t spoken out loud, as there was no way that she would have been calm enough to keep her voice at a level which wouldn’t distract the two trolls currently sleeping just a couple rooms over.

Joey groaned, drying off her face and trying to just stop thinking entirely. She could sort out the rest of her issues when she wasn’t presently dealing with much more pressing concerns, namely being stranded on an alien planet with presumably no way to get back home, or even to contact her brother or babysitter or--not her pa, because even in her current predicament she wasn’t desperate enough to want to talk to him. Close to desperate enough, perhaps, but she could go a bit longer before wishing for such a thing.

In the meantime, she decided, she would do her best to keep her head squarely on her shoulders. First thing tomorrow--morning? Night?--she and Xefros, and, a part of her hoped, Elwurd, would go out searching for Cornibuster and Zoosmell, with any luck finding them with ease, and being on their way.

The streak of bad luck that they had had over the last 24 hours left her with a stomachache.

She exited the bathroom, tiptoeing back down the hall. Xefros lay curled up on the couch, snorting softly as his leg kicked a couple times. Joey couldn't help but think of Tesseract, a small, wistful smile painting itself across her face. As she entered Elwurd’s bedroom, she almost missed her horns sticking out of the slime contained within the odd cocoon. Byers had long since hopped out of Joey's jacket, and by now had perched atop one of Elwurd’s horns.

Quietly and slowly, she climbed on top of the cocoon, sinking slightly into the spongy surface. She lay there for some time, her eyelids heavy yet her body restless. Whether it was due to her recent mental freakout, or the light shining in through the blinds, she couldn't tell.

Eventually, after much tossing and turning, Joey found herself deep asleep, yet dreamless.


End file.
